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JOINT VENTURE MARKS EL CAMINO REAL'S CENTENNIAL
Joint Venture will join regional transit officials and other municipal leaders to commemorate the 100th anniversary of El Camino Real, with two public events in August.
The centennial festivities, which mark the paving of California's historic highway, begin on Sunday, August 5 with a community celebration at the San Bruno Farmers Market in the Tanforan Shopping Center. Funding for the event is provided by a grant from Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
On Tuesday, August 7, an historic car procession from San Bruno to Burlingame will begin at 10 a.m. at the San Bruno City Hall steps, followed by a classic car display and picnic in Washington Park.
Joint Venture joins Caltrans for these events, along with Assemblyman Jerry Hill’s Office, the City of San Bruno, the San Mateo Historical Society, the San Mateo County Health System, Greenbelt Alliance, the San Bruno Chamber of Commerce and the Mid Peninsula Old Time Car Club.
Click here for more details about the events and the Grand Boulevard initiative. |
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Joint Venture to wade into regional sea level rise challenge?
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The Joint Venture board is considering adding its muscle to the fight against the threat of flooding around the bay, joining forces with other organizations to chart a course of collective action to counter the danger.
The board was briefed by senior leaders of the Bay Area Joint Policy Committee, who estimate sea level in California could rise 16 inches in the next 40 years and 55 inches by 2100. The inundation could collapse the levees built to manage the remaining San Francisco Bay salt ponds. Major campuses such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo, DreamWorks, Cisco and Intuit would be flooded. Thousands of homes and apartments from Newark to San Jose to East Palo Alto and Foster City would be destroyed. Portions of Highways 101 and 237 would be underwater.
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In this exploratory phase, Joint Venture is meeting with community and business leaders, and staging public meetings to discuss the region’s needs for infrastructure, funding and other resources. Joint Venture is also forming a novel partnership with the Dutch government and a consortium of public and private Dutch interests to organize a series of conferences and symposia.
Click here to read a California Watch article on sea level change. |
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Grand Boulevard: Takin’ it to the streets
Grand Boulevard Initiative staff and supporters have been actively building community backing for the initiative through a new “Grass Tops to Grass Roots” information program to reach out to advocacy organizations in San Mateo County.
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The project is a collaboration of the San Mateo County Transit District, Greenbelt Alliance and the San Mateo County Health System. The group has created a San Mateo County Community Leaders’ Roundtable with 19 active members, held two “Walk the Talk” forums, set up a Grand Boulevard Initiative Speakers Bureau and produced an informational video.
Click here to watch the Grand Boulevard video. |
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Benest Fellow appointed for 2012-2013
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Joint Venture has appointed Cupertino native Rishi Chopra as the organization's Frank Benest Fellow for 2012-2013. The fellowship honors the legacy of former Palo Alto city manager Frank Benest, a long-serving Joint Venture board member and a tireless champion of regionalism, collaborative approaches to economic development, and advocate of bringing young people in public service.
Rishi is a justice studies major at San Jose State University, a concurrent student at Lincoln Law School, and active in a number of community service, public policy and leadership organizations. At Joint Venture he will assist the staff on a variety of initiatives.
Click here to read more about Rishi. |
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Bruce Knopf is new chair of Silicon Valley EDA
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Santa Clara County asset and economic development director Bruce Knopf has been elected chair of the Silicon Valley EDA, Joint Venture’s economic development initiative. Bruce will focus on continuing to build and strengthen the EDA’s partnerships with the broker and developer communities and key stakeholders and elected officials.
His other two priorities are to participate actively in collaborative regional and state economic development efforts, particularly in workforce development, and to work with members on financing opportunities to help local governments offset lost redevelopment funds.
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Click here to learn more about our Silicon Valley EDA. |
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Our AUGUST Spotlight
BILL SHERRY
San Jose Airport and Team San Jose
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When Bill Sherry was sixteen, a flight instructor at a small Florida airfield treated him to his first ride aloft a small private plane. You could say that Bill never came down from that.
“It was a four-seater,” he remembers. “I sat in the left front seat. I was hooked. I fell in love with flying that day.”
Click here to read Bill’s profile. |
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Article of the Month
“Gloomy Forecast for States, Even if Economy Rebounds,” New York Times
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The fiscal crisis for states will persist long after the economy rebounds as they confront rising health care costs, underfunded pensions, ignored infrastructure needs, eroding revenues and expected federal budget cuts, according to a report issued here Tuesday by the State Budget Crisis Task Force.
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California’s borrowing to raise cash over the past decade is among several states’ budget balancing “gimmicks” highlighted in this recent New York Times article.
Click here to read the article. |
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August on “Inside Silicon Valley”
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August guests on “Inside Silicon Valley,” Joint Venture’s weekly public affairs radio program, include San Jose police chief Chris Moore (Aug. 3 & 5), Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman, (Aug. 10 & 12), Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman (Aug. 17 & 19) and Accenture executive Chris DiGiorgio (Aug. 31 & Sept. 2).
Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock hosts the hour-long program, which airs every Friday at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday at noon on 1590 KLIV.
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Click here to listen to previous programs. Click here to listen to our podcasts on iTunes. |
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